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This is absolutely the most important takeaway from Target Field: it has about four or five nooks and crannies that make for really interesting environments. I love sitting in the little four-row enclosed section in right field -- a cubby-hole wind-tunnel right on top of the action. A meteorologist there even wrote about how each part of the stadium can literally feel different. http://blogs.mprnews.org/updraft/2010/03/target_field_features_many_mic/

Kansas is going with supposedly cream-colored alternates this afternoon against K-State. The Hawks are also bringing the Tiffany typeface back for a few games this year, unfortunately on gray. http://www.kuathletics.com/news/2014/1/11/MBB_0111143541.aspx

I'm pretty sure that the official orange is some sort of red-orange that is supposed to be a hybrid of OU and OSU's primary colors. It must be a difficult color to match, because it is often represented -- even on about half the merchandise in the team store -- as a run-of-the-mill orange. The same is true for the electric/shampoo blue, which manufacturers sometimes reduce to royal.

It wasn't just that Cano didn't pick Butler -- a line-drive hitter who frankly has no business being in the derby. It was that, weeks earlier, Cano actually told ESPN that he'd pick a Royal if there were one available. Maybe it was an off-the-cuff remark, and maybe Cano forgot about it as soon as he said it. But fans in Kansas City held him to his word. Do I think it was a little much? Yes. However, the reaction from some in the national media has been disproportionately harsh. I've read everything from "how dare they bring shame to the event?" to "how can people possibly care that much about glorified batting practice?" This is sports-nihilism -- a well-adjusted sort of absurdism. But if you're going to approach the Home Run Derby with a "none-of-it-really-matters" attitude, be consistent. Don't criticize others for booing, because, you know, none of it really matters. Some of the ESPN commentators scolded Kansas City fans on the spot, even juxtaposing quaint Midwestern values with outrageous fan behavior. It's not Royals fans' fault that it didn't fit with the wholesome, jello-salad-eating narrative national media has created about Kansas City. Fans are (mostly) the same everywhere, and to expect the situation to have played out differently in another ballpark is naive at best and misleading framework at worst. Royals fans are desperate, myself included, to care about something -- anything -- even halfway important. This was negative energy, but it was pointed and passionate and in defense of a favorite son. It is not often that I get to hear 40,000 fans at once in that ballpark; what best I can take from this is that Royals fans still care, and that they will be great (by all traditional, silly measures of "fandom") if ever rewarded with a winner.

I am pleased that the Royals are going back to the white script (outlined in blue, it seems) on the powder blue jersey. Not only does this better fit with the team's aesthetic history, but it provides better color contrast and unifies the team script with the names and numbers on that particular jersey. Although we knew that the Royals were ditching the powder blue cap, I'm torn on the change. I think it's a terrific cap -- it's the only one I own -- but I think that, perhaps, it does not necessarily belong on the field-of-play. Kansas City has had only the royal cap for most of the team's 40-plus years (though the exact dimensions of the "KC" logo have changed); it's a classic, and it should be respected as such by being the only on-field cap representing the team.